On the Three Milestones in the Studies of Xiqu History

This research project will explore the historical contributions made by Wang Guowei, Zhou Yibai,Zhang Geng and his academic group in the studies of xiqu history, respectively. Wang Guowei completedhis A History of Song and Yuan Dynasty Xiqu (songyuan xiqu shi) in 1913, which is the foundation of themodern scholarship of xiqu history. Zhou Yibai first exhibited his talents in his A Brief History of ChineseDrama (zhongguo xiju shilue) in 1936. He continued to study the general history of xiqu, and eventuallypublished his three volumes of A History of Chinese Drama (zhongguo xijushi) in 1953. Zhang Geng andhis colleagues began to conduct the research on the history of xiqu in the late 1950s under the high pressureof Marxism-Leninism ideology. They published A General History of Chinese Xiqu (Zhongguo xiqutongshi) in the early 1980s, which comprehensively studied xiqu with particular emphasis on its theatricalperformance.